DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum College Football Playoffs might be closer than you think

Federal legislation that could lead to a college football playoff tournament will move a step closer to reality on Wednesday in a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.


The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will consider a bill that would allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prohibit any bowl game from calling itself a "national championship" unless the game is "the final game of a single elimination post-season playoff system." The subcommittee is expected to vote on the proposal on Wednesday after a line-by-line consideration of the bill.


Written and sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), the bill is a direct attack on the BCS and, if enacted, would bring the long simmering controversy over the BCS to an end. In a legislative process that is long and can be tortuous, the hearing is a significant step. This is the furthest any bill on the BCS controversy has ever progressed on Capitol Hill.


At a hearing on the BCS issue in May, Barton demanded a playoff and warned BCS officials that if "they sit on their hands and yawn, this legislation could end up on the President's desk for his signature." This week's development, according to a spokesman for the committee, is Barton's response to the BCS's refusal to consider a playoff.


Wednesday's hearing is known as a "markup," a procedure that allows any committee member to propose amendments to the bill, followed by committee action on the amendments. The procedure is frequently used to iron out technical problems in the bill's language and to provide a forum for compromises among committee members on substantive issues.


Barton's bill is supported by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), the chairman of the subcommittee. If the subcommittee approves the bill, it will move to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where Barton enjoys some leverage as the ranking Republican. The next steps would be a vote on the floor of the House, passage by the Senate, and approval by President Barack Obama. Obama has said in numerous interviews on ESPN and on "60 Minutes" that he supports a playoff system.


The bill would give the FTC the authority to regulate the college football postseason with the power to obtain injunctions and to assess huge fines against any organization that promotes a "national championship game."


If enacted into law, the rule would become effective for the 2011 college football season and would affect bowl games played late in 2011 and in January of 2012.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4725887

Great - I'm glad congress is tackling this must pass legislation - I'm glad they are spending time on things like this.

I heard recently that many people don't feel they get enough green M & M's in a package - perhaps congress could look into this as well?

You may need one of these

Everyone knows that a post-season playoff system involves more than 2 teams. That seems pretty obvious to me. The Bcs is a post-season, but it resembles nothing like a playoff format.

I actually like Congress getting involved. Look, before they got involved in Baseball, steroids were rampant. Now they have a great steroid policy in the game. If the Ncaa can't get rid of this nonsense BCS, that most can't stand, Congress should take some action. JUst my 2 cents.

WASHINGTON -- A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine a national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress had more pressing matters on its plate.

The bill, which faces long odds of becoming law, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship unless that title contest is the result of a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

"With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on," Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn't like the current Bowl Championship Series, either.

The bill's sponsor, GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, said the BCS system is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress.

The vote came three days after the BCS selections were announced, including the Jan. 7 national title game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas.

In a statement before the vote, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, "With all the serious matters facing our country, surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played."

The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said, "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Yet Barrow wasn't alone in criticizing his colleagues' priorities; Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., made similar arguments. Space said that with people facing tough times, the decision to focus on college football sends the "wrong message."

The bill has a tough road ahead, given the wide geographic representation of schools in the six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC -- that get automatic BCS bowl bids.

"The schools in those six conferences, which have such a huge financial benefit from the system, have enormous clout," said Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis and a sports law expert. "I don't see anything coming from this."

The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. Eight other schools get the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls.

Under the BCS, the champions of those six big conference get automatic bids, while other conferences don't.

Although Alabama and Texas finished with undefeated seasons, so did several other teams that will not get a chance to play for the title game, including TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State.

Each will get to play in a BCS bowl: Cincinnati is the Big East champ; TCU, champion of the Mountain West, gets a bid awarded to a nonautomatic qualifying conference that meets certain criteria; and Boise State, winner of the Western Athletic Conference, gets an at-large bid.

At a May hearing, Barton warned college football officials that unless they took action toward a playoff system within two months, Congress probably would act. It took a little longer, but the timing of this week's vote isn't exactly a coincidence.

"Part of it is because BCS is in the news," Barton said before the meeting.

There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS.

Shortly after his election last year, Obama said there should be a playoff system.

"I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit," Obama said at the time. "I think it's the right thing to do."


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4727426

Like they got nothing else to do... Geez

The BCS is nothing more than a re-organization of the former "Bowl Season."

Would we even have a Texas-Alabama matchup if it weren't for the BCS ?

No,...

Texas would be in the Fiesta and 'Bama would be in the Sugar, each probably playing one of The Little Three..

The Rose would be the same.

The Orange would be Georgia Tech,...and the leftover from The Little Three (above).

We'd have at least 2, maybe 3 undefeated National Champions,...

No thank you..

The Rose Bowl would be the same. They still pit the Big10 champ versus the Pac10 champ as their first choice.

I can do them a favor and go ahead and seed the field this year:

Common sense presents: The National Playoffs

1. Alabama 13 - 0 SEC Champion
2. TCU 12 - 0 Mountain West Champion
3. Texas 13 - 0 Big 12 Champion
4. Cincinnati 12 - 0 Big East Champion
5. Boise State 12 - 0 WAC Champion
6. Oregon 10 - 2 Pac 10 Champion
7. Ohio State 10 - 2 Big 10 Champion
8. Georgia Tech 11 - 2 ACC Champion

Do I get to be a "Playoff Czar" for doing this?

I like it but what about Notre Dame?